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300 dead, 2,000 missing in typhoon-hit Samar province — official


MANILA— A super typhoon killed at least 300 people and left almost 2,000 others missing on the eastern Philippine island of Samar, a local official said on Sunday.

Leo Dacaynos, a member of the Samar's disaster management council, said on DZBB radio 300 people were confirmed killed in Basey, a small town on Samar.

He said almost 2,000 other people were missing in Basey and other Samar towns.

This was the first confirmation of large-scale fatalities in the island of Samar after Yolanda (Haiyan) made landfall on the island before dawn Friday.

However vast areas of Samar, an island of over 733,000, still have not been contacted over two days after the typhoon struck.

Authorities estimate that more than 10,000 were killed by the storm in the neighboring island of Leyte and the death toll in other typhoon-hit areas is rising further as well. — Agence France Presse

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